Air-brake system.



PATENTED OCT. 15, 1907.

H; N. RANSOM. AIR BRAKE SYSTEM. APPLICATION nun JUNE 1,1906.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFITJE.

HENRY N. RANSOM, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRICCOMPANY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AIR-BRAKE SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1907.

Application filed June 1, 1906. $erial No. 319,762.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY N. Rimson, a citizen oi the United States,residing at Albany, county oi Albany, State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Air-Brake Systems. oi which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to air-brake systems, and its object is to providea novel arrangement by which a great economy of air is obtained and thcefiicien'cy of such systems consequently improved.

My invention, broadly stated, consists in returning again to the source,in releasing the brakes. the air which is supplied l'rom the source tobrake-cylinder in applying the brakes, so that the same air is usedrepeatedly.

More specifically stated, my invention consists in the combination of anair-compressor, a reservoir supplied thereby, a brake cylinder, pipeconnections from brake-cylinder to both reservoir and to the intake ofthe compressor, means for controlling the flow 01' air l'rom thereservoir to brake cylinder to apply the brakes, and means forcontrolling the operation of the compressor to return air l'rom thebrake-cylinder to reservoir to release the brakes. By means of thisarrangement the air-compressor is not pumping air at atmosphericpressure into the reservoir, but takes air under pressure from thebrake-cylinder. The amount of work done by the compressor isconsequently reduced, so that a smaller compressor may be employed andless power consumed in driving the compressor.

My invention will best be understood by rel'erence to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a. straight" airbrakesystem arranged in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 shows myinvention applied to an automatic system.

In Fig. .l, A represents an air-compressor driven by the electric motorB and supplying the reservoir C.

D represents the brake-cylinder, which is arranged to be connectedthrough the engineers valve E to reservoir, and which is also connecteddirectly or through the engineers valve to the intake pipe a of thecompressor. An inwardly-opening check valve F connects this intake pipeto atmosphere. The engineers valve. which is shown in running positionwith the handle resting against a spring step e, carries a contact Gadapted to bridge the stationary contacts 9 in circuit with the'motorI3. These contacts are in parallel with the contacts 11 controlled bythe usual pressure governor II.

The operation of the system is as follows: To apply the brakes thereservoir O is connected to brake-cylinder D through the engineers valveE in the usual manner by rotating engineers valve E in a clockwisedirection. To release the brakes, the engineers valve is moved so as tobreak this connection and connect brake-cylinder to the intake pipe oithe compressor, and at the same time to bring contact G into engage mentwith contacts 9. This closes the circuit of motor B and starts theair-compressor to pump air out of brake-cylinder D and to return it toreservoir C, thereby releasing the brakes. In this position the handleoi the engineers valve engages and compresses the spring step e, whichacts to return the valve to running position when the brakes arereleased and the operator lets go the handle. In running position thecircuit of the motor-compressw is broken and the brake-cylinder isconnected to atmosphere as shown in Fig. 1.

The pressure governor H is adjusted so as not to respond to the ordinaryvariations in pressure in the reservoir C in braking, but in case thepressure in reservoir O falls below certain limits on account of leakagein the system, the governor II will start the compressor to supply theair lost by leakage, drawing it in through the check valve F. i

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically an automatic system similarly arranged. Inthis figure the triple valve T performs the function of the engineersvalve in Fig. 1,that is, connecting the brake-cylinder either toreservoir or to the intake of the air-compressor. The triple valve maybe of the usual construction, the ex haust-port being connected to theintake of the air compressor instead of to atmosphere, in the samemanner as the exhaust-port of the engineers valve in Fig. 1 is connectedto the intake of the air-compressor of that figure instead of toatmosphere. 5 represents the usual train-pipe to which all the triplevalve pistons are connected, and 0 represents the reservoir line ordinarily employed where independent air-compressors are used on theseveral cars connecting the reservoirs together. The engineers valve E,which is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2, is arranged in the usualmanner to connect the train-pipe t to reservoir or to atmosphere. Theright-hand valve E is shown in running position, connecting train-pipe tto reservoir line c. The brakes are applied in the usual manner byrotating engineers valve E in a clockwise direction to connecttrain-line t to atmosphere so as to actuate the triple valves T toconnect auxiliary reservoirs O to brake-cylinder. When the valve ismoved to compress the spring stop 2 and to connect train-pipe t toreservoir again, the contact G bridges the contacts thereby starting upall the air-compressors on the train which are all connected to thetrain-wire i, at the same time that the increase of pressure in thetrain-pipe t moves the triple valves T to connect the brake-cylinders tothe intakes of the compressors. Spring stop 6 serves to return-theengineers valve to running position when released thereby stopping themotor-compressors.

It will be seen that the operation for the automatic system is in everyway analogous to the operation in the straight air system; the principaldifference being that the brake cylinder is connected to reservoir or toair-compressor directly by the engineers valve in the straight airsystem, and by the triple valvegcontrolled by the engineers valve in theautomatic system. The arrangement of parts and the pipe-connections maybe varied in either system, as desired, and accordingly I do not desireto limit myself to the particular construction and arrangement of partshere shown, but aim in the appended claims to cover all modificationswhich are within the scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is, i

1. In an air-brake system, an air-compressor, a brakecylinder, pipeconnections from bl'akecylinder to the intake of the compressor, anengineer's valve controlling the application of the brakes, and meansactuated by said engineers valve for starting and stopping saidcompressor.

2. In an air-brake system, an air-compressor, a reservoir suppliedthereby, a brake-cylinder, pipe connections from brake-cylinder toreservoir and to the intake of the coinpressor, an engineer-s valvecontrolling the flow of air from reservoir to brake-cylinder, and meansactuated by said engineer's valve for starting and stopping saidcompressor.

3. In an air-brake system, an air-compressor, a brakecylinder, pipeconnections from brake-cylinder to the in take of the'compressor, anengineers valve for controlling the application of the brakes, meansactuated by said en gineers valve for starting and stopping thecompressor, and an inwardlyopening check-valve connecting the intake ofsaid compressor to atmosphere.

4. In an air-brake system, an air-compressor, a reservoir suppliedthereby, a brakercylinder, pipe connections from brake-cylinder toreservoir and to the intake of the compressor, an engineers valvecontrolling the flow of air from reservoir to brake cylinder, meansactuated by the engineer's valve for starting and stopping thecompressor, and means controlled by the pressure in the reservoir forstarting and stopping said compressor.

5. In an air-brake system, an air-compressor, an electric driving motortherefor, a brake-cylinder, pipe connections between brakeeylinder andthe intake ofthe compressor, and a manually-operated controlling switchfor said motor.

6. In an ainbrake system, an air-compressor, an electric driving motortherefor, a reservoir supplied thereby, a brake-cylinder, pipeconnections from brakecylinder to reservoir and t0 the intake of thecompressor, a manually operated valve controlling the flow of air fromreservoir to brake-cylinder, and switch contacts on said valvecontrolling said motor.

7. In an air-brake system, an aircompressor, an electric driving motortherefor, a brake-cylinder, pipe connections between brake-cylinder andthe intake of the compressor, a manually-operated controlling switch forsaid motor, and an inwardly-opening check-valve connecting the intake ofsaid compressor to atmosphere.

8. In an air-brake system, an aincompressor, a brakecylinder, pipcconnections from brake-cylinder to the intake of the compressor,manualIy-controlled means for starting said compressor to withdraw airfrom the cyl inder, and means for automatically shifting saidmanuallycontrolled means when released to stop the compressor.

9. in an air-brake system, an air-compressor, an electric driving motortherefor, a brake-cylinder, pipe connections between brake-cylinder andthe intake of the compressor, a manually-controlled switch contactcontrolling said motor, and a spring for automatically returning saidcon tact to open-position when manually released.

10. In an air-brake system, an air-compressor, an electric driving motortherefor, a reservoir supplied thereby, a brakecylinder, pipeconnections from brake-cylinder to reservoir and to the intake of thecompressor, a manuallyoperated valve controlling the flow of air fromreservoir to brake-cylinder, switch contacts on said valve controllingsaid motor, and a spring for automatically shifting said valve when saidvalve is moved into position to close said contacts and manuallyreleased.

11. In an airbrake system, an air-compressor, an electric driving motortherefor, pipe connections from, brakecylinder to the intake of thecompressor, an engineer's valve controlling the application and releaseof the brakes and having two release positions, switch contacts controlled by said valve and arranged in one release position of said valveto close the circuit of said motor, and means for automatically shiftingsaid valve to the second release position when moved to the firstrelease position and manually released.

12. In a straight air-brake system, an aircompressor, an electricdriving motor therefor, a reservoir supplied thereby, an engineers valvearranged in three different positions to connect brake-cylinder toreservoir, to atmosphere, and to the intake of the compressor,respectively, switch contacts controlled by said valve arranged to closethe circuit of said motor when said valve is in the third of saidpositions, and means for automatically shifting said valve from thethird to the second of said posi tions when said valve is manuallyreleased.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 31st day of May,1906.

HENRY N. RANSOM. Witnesses Bax nun B. IIULL, HnLnx Onnono.

